1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an adjusting mechanism for a footrest of a reclining chair, more particularly one, with which the footrest can be moved to, and securely held in a selected one of various positions to suit the sitter""s need, and which is easy to operate.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
There are reclining chairs of such kind that can be adjusted in the position of the seats and backs, and can be folded for easy storage. Among all conventional adjustable reclining chairs, there are a kind of very common chairs, which are made such that when one wants to adjust the seats or backs thereof, he needs to first sit on the chairs, unlock the seats or backs, and then move the same to the intended position with his body, when the user doesn""t need to use the chairs, he can move the back to the original upright position. However, most reclining chairs of that kind are not equipped with footrests, and the sitter has to place an ottoman in front of the reclining chair, and rest his feet on the ottoman. Therefore, the reclining chairs are not very convenient to use.
To overcome the above disadvantage, rails are disposed under the seat of a reclining chair, and an U-shaped metallic tube is movably fitted to the rails such that the sitter can make the U-shaped metallic tube project from the seat for resting his feet on. However, the U-shaped tube is prone to fall out of the rails because in order for allowing the tube to slide along the rails with ease, the connection between the tube and the rails is not tight. In addition, the sitter is likely to have sore and aching feet soon because the U-shaped tube doesn""t have large enough area, which is the only object that the sitter feet are rested on.
Referring to FIG. 11, a conventional reclining chair 1 for patient and people receiving rehabilitation service includes an adjustable seat 11, a frame 13, and a footrest 12. The footrest 12 is comprised of a foot supporting part 121, and a control mechanism, which includes a crank 122, a pivotal shaft 123, a control pedal 124, and an auxiliary positioning apparatus 125; the foot supporting part 121 is pivoted to a front portion of the seat 11, and can be covered with the cushion used on the seat 11 or equipped with transverse elastic straps for the sitter to rest his feet on comfortably; the crank 122 includes several connecting rods, and is pivoted to the foot supporting part 121 at one end; the pivotal shaft 123 is fitted to a lower portion of one lateral part of the frame 13, and joined to the other end of the crank 122; the control pedal 124 is arranged opposite an outward side of the frame 13, and securely joined to the pivotal shaft 123. The auxiliary positioning apparatus 125 includes first and second moving rods, and a main body, which is equipped with elastic element (not shown), and which is connected to the first moving rod; one of the connecting rods of the crank 122 is pivoted to the main body of the positioning apparatus 125 while the second moving rod is pivoted to the first moving rod and the frame 13 at two ends thereof. Thus, the foot supporting part 121 can be moved to a substantially upright no-in-use position by means of making the pivotal shaft 123 turn counterclockwise with the help of the control pedal 124, and can be moved to a stretched in-use position by means of making the pivotal shaft 123 turn clockwise. With the footrest 12, there is no need for one to place an ottoman in front of the seat 11.
However, the above reclining chair is found to have disadvantages as followings:
1. The foot supporting part 121 can only be held in the upright no-in-use position and the stretched in-use one, but cannot be adjusted in between for providing the sitter with more choices.
2. One has to depress one end of the control pedal 124 with enough strength so that the foot supporting part 121 can be moved from the no-in-use position to the stretched in-use position in one action, otherwise the part 121 won""t be firmly held up, and he will have to operate the control pedal 124 again.
3. The control mechanism of the footrest 12 includes the crank 122 comprised of several connecting rods and pivoted to the foot supporting part 121 at one end, the pivotal shaft 123 joined to the other end of the crank 122, the control pedal 124, and the auxiliary positioning apparatus 125. Consequently, the control mechanism is complicated in the structure and expensive to manufacture.
It is a main object of the present invention to provide a footrest of a reclining chair to overcome the above disadvantages.
The footrest includes a footrest part pivoted to a front portion of the seat, and an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the footrest part with. The adjusting mechanism includes a pivotal shaft, two pairs of first and second connecting rods for passing on movement of the pivotal shaft to the footrest part, a third connecting rod, a detaining member, an engaging member, first and second elastic elements, first and second controls for displacing the footrest part with, and a stopping member for helping holding the footrest part in position after adjustment of the footrest part.
The pivotal shaft is supported with the frame. The first rods are securely joined to the pivotal shaft while the second rods are each pivoted to a corresponding first rod, and pivoted to the footrest at two ends. The footrest part is movable between a completely stretched position and a retreated one by means of causing rotation of the pivotal shaft to displace the first and the second rods. The third rod is pivoted on a first end of the pivotal shaft. The detaining member is secured to the frame with the first end of the pivotal shaft being passed through a hole thereof, and is formed with ratchet teeth. The engaging member is pivoted on the third rod for releasable engagement with the ratchet teeth. The engaging member has an engaging portion, and a rod-shaped pressed portion. The first elastic element is joined to the third rod, and the engaging portion of the engaging member at two ends thereof for making the engaging member biased to such a position as to engage the detaining member. The first control includes a pedal portion and a flat portion, and is angularly displaceable together with the shaft. The flat portion has a pivotal hole, and two posts located apart. The second control has an elongated flat portion positioned between the detaining member and the first control plus between the posts of the first control. The elongated flat portion has an up-facing notch. The second control is pivoted to the pivotal hole of the first control. The second elastic element is joined to the flat portion of the first control, and the second control member for biasing the second control in such a way that the notch is away from the pressed portion of the engaging member. The teeth of the detaining member are in such a direction that the engaging member won""t engage the teeth when the first control is being depressed to turn. The edge of the notch of the second control will be pressed against the pressed portion of the engaging member to make the engaging member disengage the ratchet teeth when the second control is being depressed to turn. The stopping member is joined to the second end of the pivotal shaft, and includes a fixed plate securely joined to the pivotal shaft, a ratchet positioned next to the fixed plate and angularly displaceable on the pivotal shaft, an engaging bar pivoted to the frame for engagement with the ratchet, an elastic element joined to the frame and the bar at two ends thereof for biasing the engaging bar to an engaging position where the bar engages the ratchet, a lining next to the ratchet, a separating plate next to the lining and rotary together with the pivotal shaft, a nut screwed onto the shaft, and a spring for making the lining and the ratchet closely sandwiched between the fixed plate and the separating plate.